Wednesday, January 09, 2008

I just got a phone call from Europe- they told me to suck it. Oh well. What can you say about New Hampshire? You can expect the Republicans to eventually rally around the Republican who is most likely to win in a general election, because they're smart. Meanwhile, the Democrats can be expected to rally around the Democrat who is least likely to win in a general election, because while they're not smart, they are lovable losers.

McCain versus Clinton- it's really hard to care, isn't it? I suppose I'd vote for him. But, to be honest, I can't imagine either of them actually, you know, doing anything if elected. The war, which is really more of an occupation than a war, and more of a colony than an occupation, will probably last another four years. The war on drugs will last another four years. Poverty will last another four years. Politicians and Americans will agree to never say anything rational about immigration. They might restore a bit of the Constitution. Or not. In the end, you can always count on Americans (and the vast majority of human beings for that matter) to bitch constantly about the way things are, while doing everything they can to avoid anything ever changing. Same with Canadians, Europeans, Asians, etc. etc. etc.

In Robert Anton Wilson's terminology, most people are neophobes, not neophiles.

Everyone talked for a week about how Americans crave change, but in the end, the candidates who were seen as the "agents of change" lost and the company men of the respective parties won. I think most human beings will choose never to change things, if they can help it. From formulaic movies, television shows, and food, to failed political programs- they fear change while they hate the same status quo that they defend to the death.

Change is terrifying to us because it's the only way that humans register the passage of time, which can only lead one place for us- death.

Don't get me wrong- Obama and Huckabee won't change anything either: if they would, they wouldn't have made it as far as they have. But, in the end, the voters have spoken, and they prefer the same old shit to moderately different shit. How brave.

4 comments:

I might sit it out myself. You go to the trouble of registering to vote just so you can vote for one of these clowns ever so often, and what do you get out of it? Jury duty, maybe, and that's about it.

Although it's very depressing to look directly into the American political process, it's probably important to remember that it's specifically designed to inhibit efficient change. And it's doing that, in spades. Just look on it all with a satisfied smirk, and know that founding fathers, demi-gods that they were, knew their shit.

I'll admit that I'm not bloody likely to drive two hours to my polling place to flip a coin and choose between McCain and Clinton either. I'd vote in Canada, but I have to wait until I'm a citizen to do that.

I'd agree with everything the three of you have said. I'll add that what is constantly surprising to me is how easy it is for both parties to manipulate their die hard believers. The Republican candidates have no vision at all - just a cobbled together collection of easy answers for simple minds. The Democrats, meanwhile, would run Charles Manson if they believed it would "drive Rush Limbaugh crazy!" But they both tell their people to jump and they jump.

I've been taking to saying, "Aw, fuck it- I'm becoming a Canadian anyway." Don't get me wrong- Canadians are remarkably complacent, but they have the advantage of not really giving a shit about politics in the first place. As I've noted before, Canada has the highest rate of marijuana use in the industrialized world, which probably explains it. I also think that 90% of the economy here comes from "beer an' smokes".

I also agree that the founding fathers were brilliant and that nobody who is running will be able to do very much damage. I'm just hoping that we can get someone who'll roll back the changes made by the radical who has occupied the White House for the last eight years. The paradox of a system so geared towards maintaining the status quo is that, once someone changes the status quo, it's actually hard to change things back. I've read a number of Republicans who say they can't vote for McCain in good conscience because they believe that a true conservative would support waterboarding! So change is possible, unfortunately.